Building set combination including toy rails,ties and special track sections



3,464,624 Y RAILS. TIES s G CHRISTIANSEN BUILDING SET COMBINATION INCLUDIN AND SPECIA TRACK SEC Filed Nov. 28, 1966 Sept. 2, 1969 6 Sheets-Sheet l looooooooocroooooll ill llllll I I2 Q Q l/b WW6 Q lob pt 1969 G. K. CHRISTIANSEN 3,464,624

BUILDING SET COMBINATION INCLUDING TOY RAILS, TIES AND SPECIAL TRACK SECTIONS Filed Nov. 28, 1966 e Sheets-Sheet 2 p 1969 e. K. CHRISTIANSEN 3,

BUILDING SET COMBINATION INCLIUDING TOY RAILS, TIES AND SPECIAL TRACK SECTIONS Filed Nov. 28, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 I I mum Fig 9 m 6 f r 3,464,624 TIES Sept. 2, 1969 G. K. CHRiSTlANSEN BUILDING SET COMBINATION INCLUDING TOY RAILS AND SPECIAL TRACK SECTIONS 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 28, 1966 0 0W o W o o .9 I o o F G o 0 0 0 ooo oo oooooooooo o o 0 0 6(0 W o o O\ -0 ooaoooooooooooo o o o 0 o 0 o 3,464,624 TIES Se t. 2, 1969 5. K. CHRISTIANSEN BUILDING SET COMBINATION INCLUDING TOY RAILS,

AND SPECIAL TRACK SECTIONS 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 28, 1966 p 1969 s. K. CHRISTIANSEN 3,464,624

BUILDING SET COMBINATION INCLUDING TOY RAILS, TIES AND SPECIAL TRACK SECTIONS Filed Nov. 28, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 United States 3,464,624 BUILDING SET COMBINATION INCLUDTNG TOY RAILS, TIES AND SPECIAL TRACK SECTIONS Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Billnnd, Denmark, assignor to Interlego A.G., Zug, Switzerland Filed Nov. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 597,390 Claims priority, application Denmark, Dec. 13, 1965, 6,378/ 65 Int. Cl. EtlIh 23/00, 7/00; A631 33/06 U.S. Cl. 238-10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates generally to building sets and building elements made by injection moulding of a thermoplastic material for use as toys or for building model constructions of various kinds, and more particularly to building sets which may be used for making tracks for model railways.

One object of the invention is to extend the use of building sets which have so far substantially been con fined to stationary structures so as to include the possibility of making model railways.

Another object of the invention is to provide a building set including rail and sleeper elements which may be readily assembled and disassembled by means of the same coupling means which are normally used in building sets of the kind referred to.

Other objects and the main features of the invention will appear from the following description with reference to the drawings in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a rail element according to the invention viewed from above and from below, respectively,

FIG. 3 presents a section along the line IIIIII in FIG. 1,

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a crosstie or sleeper element viewed from above and from below, respectively,

FIG. 6 is part of a railway track assembled from the rail and sleeper elements illustrated in FIGS. 1-5,

FIG. 7 is a corresponding railway track assembled from the same sleeper elements, but with curved rail elements, viewed in perspective,

FIG. 8 shows the rail elements of FIG. 7 viewed from below,

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 show a rail crossing assembled from the rail elements shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, viewed from above, from the end, and from below, respectively,

FIG. 12 shows one end of a rail element according to the invention, viewed in perspective,

FIG. 13 shows fragments of a railway track provided with a gradient and assembled from rails of the form illustrated in FIG. 12,

FIG. 14 is a rail switching element viewed from above, and

FIGS. 15-17 present sections along the lines XVXV, XVI-XVI, and XVIIXVII in FIG. 14, respectively.

The rail element shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 consist of a substantially rod-shaped body 10 provided on the upper face with a rail-forming rib 11 with grooves 12 for increasing the friction between the rail and a wheel running thereon. As shown in FIG. 2 the rail element 10 has in thebottom face a cavity 13 in which there is a row of regularly spaced projections 14.

The crosstie or sleeper element 20 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is a toy building element of the type having on the upper face two rows of equidistant primary studs 21, FIG. 4, and in the bottom face a cavity 22 with a row of secondary studs 23 so disposed relatively to the primary studs 21 on the upper face of the element that each secondary stud 23 can be clamped between four primary studs 21.

FIG. 6 shows part of a railway track assembled from elements 10 and 20. Three rail elements 10a, 10b, and are placed end to end, and these elements are coupled together by means of the studs 14 in the bottom of the cavity 13, FIG. 2, with the sleeper elements 20 by clamping the primary studs 21 thereof. The ribs 11a, 11b and 11c of the elements 10a, 10b and 10c will thus form consecutive rails spaced by a distance equal to the distance between the central points of six primary studs of the sleeper elements 20.

FIG. 7 shows a corresponding railway track with rail elements of a modified form, i.e., they are curved to provide curves in the railway track. In rail elements of this design the outer rail element of a curve 10 has a greater length than the inner rail element 10". Besides, there are only three coupling studs 14, 14' and 14 respectively, in the bottom of each rail element, and these coupling studs are disposed in the centre and at the ends of the rail elements. Because of the module of the primary studs 21 of the sleeper elements 20, the sleeper elements can be placed only in the centre and at the ends of the curved rail elements 10 and 10", while in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 the sleeper elements 20 may be located at any arbitrary point along the rails 10a, 10b and 10c.

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 show a rail crossing comprising an element composed of two pairs of the rail elements shown in FIG. 1 crossing each other at a right angle. In the points of crossing 15 the ribs 11 are intersected so that the flange of a driving wheel may pass through the space 16 between the ribs of the two sets of rails when the wheel is running on the rail ribs 11 over the points of crossing 15.

As shown in FIG. 11 the bottom face of the element serving as a rail crossing or plate element is formed in the same manner as shown in FIG. 2. The rail crossing element may thus be coupled to any arbitrary building element, for instance base plates or brick-shaped elements of a building set of the type mentioned in the preamble.

The elements of the building set according to the invention may, like the previously known elements, conveniently be made of a plastic material by extrusion. It will be appreciated that the illustrated rail elements can be used directly as beam elements in a building set of the type mentioned in the preamble, for instance as cross girders or bridgings in structures assembled from such a building set.

FIG. 12 shows one end of a rail element according to the invention formed for the purpose of constructing railway tracks with a gradient. For this purpose the bottom face of the element is provided at each end with inclined faces 17 forming an obtuse angle with the under side 1% of the central region of the element, besides which each of the end faces 18 of the element forms an obtuse angle with the surface of the rail-forming rib 11.

The effect achieved hereby is illustrated in FIG. 13.

At the outermost left hand side of FIG. 13 is shown a rail joint where an inclined rail x is disposed in extension of a horizontally disposed rail 10v and coupled thereto by means of coupling studs 21 of a sleeper element 20. It will be seen that the inclined faces 17 make it possible for the inclined rail 10x to be coupled to the coupling stud of the sleeper element without deformation of the rail element. The other end of the inclined rail 10x is shown in the centre of FIG. 13 where the sleeper element is raised over the horizontal plane and resting on a support 19. The inclined faces 17 of the element are here in alignment with the surface of the sleeper element. The following rail 10y is mounted with the same inclination so that the surfaces of the ribs 110 are located in the same inclined plane. At the outermost right hand side of FIG. 13 is shown a rail joint disposed in a higher plane determined by two supports 19 and forming the transition between the inclined rail 10y and the horizontal rail 10z shown at the outermost right hand side. The inclined end faces 18 forming an obtuse angle with the surface 110 of the rail-forming rib make it possible to place an inclined rail 10x, 10y in extension of a horizontal rail 10v and 10*z respectively, whereby a wedge-shaped slit is formed between the ends of a pair of adjoining rails.

FIGS. 14-17 show a rail switching element consisting of two extruded plastic members 30 and 40.

One of these members is formed as a railway track 30 comprising a pair of rectilinear rails 10a and a pair of curved rails 10b converging towards the first pair, and sleeper-like transverse members 31 and 32 connecting the said pairs of rails at the ends, FIGS. 16 and 17.

The other member of the rail switching element consists of a substantially forked tongue element 40 rotatably connetced with the railway track 30 and having two toes 46, one of which is shown in engagement with the side of the rib of the outermost rectilinear rail. The tongue element 40 forms a support frame for the two converging switch rails 10c terminating in the toes 46, and the outermost transverse member 41 of the frame 40, as indicated in FIGS. 16 and 17, is inserted between the surface of one transverse member 32 of the railway track and a tongue 34 of a projection 33 on the member 32. thus the members 32 and 34 form guides for the lateral displacements of the tongue element provided by means of a shifter arm 45 connected to the tongue element 40'.

The tongue element 40 is provided at the narrow end with a disc-shaped member 42 having a downwardly extending pin 43 and a guiding face 44, FIG. 15, which projects into a groove 36 in the under side of the central portion 35 of the railway track 30.

The members 30 and 40 are joined by means of a sleeper-like cross member 50, and the transverse member 41 is first inserted beneath the tongue 34 of the member 32, whereupon the member 42 with the guiding face 44 is inserted in the groove 36. When the members 30 and 40 are in this position relatively to one another the cross member 50 is disposed on the under side of the railway track 30 so that an aperture 51 in the cross member 50 receives the downwardly extending pin 43 of the member 42, whereby this member will be rotatably connected to the cross member 50, which is then attached to the under side of the railway track 30, for instance by gluing.

I claim:

1. In a building set comprising a plurality of elements made by injection moulding of a thermoplastic material, at least some of said elements having primary coupling studs equally spaced apart in both lengthwise and transverse directions at one face of the element, the combination therewith of rail elements each said element comprising an elongated body provided with a rail-forming rib extending on the lengthwise direction of said body at the top thereof and having at least one recess in the bottom face of said body, said recess having therein means for coupling said rail elements to said primary studs, said means comprising a plurality of coupling studs spaced apart in the lengthwise direction of the recess at a distance equal to the width of the primary coupling studs and adapted to engage the primary coupling studs of an adjacent element of the building set so as to clamp the two elements together, when the bottom face of the rail element is pressed against the upper face of the adjacent element.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rail elements include one having its elongated body of curved shape and provided with three coupling studs in the recess in the bottom face of said elongated body, each of said three studs having a width which is substantially equal to the distance between a pair of adjacent primary studs of an element belonging to said building set, one of said three studs in said recess being located in the centre of the recess and the two remaining studs being located adjacent the end walls of the recess at a distance therefrom which is substantially equal to the width of said primary studs.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which the upper face of the said rail-forming rib is provided with grooves for increasing the friction between said rib and a wheel running thereon.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which the bottom face of some of said rail elements is provided at each end with inclined faces forming an obtuse angle with the bottom face of the central region of the respective rail element, and wherein the end faces of the respective rail element form an obtuse angle with the upper face of the rail-forming rib.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said elements having primary studs include a plurality of plate elements adapted to interconnect two pairs of said rail elements so as to form sleepers in a track for model railways, said sleeper elements being of rectangular shape and having two rows of said primary coupling studs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,236,896 8/1917 Anderson 46-25 2,540,433 2/ 1951 Evans 46-216 X 3,005,282 10/ 1961 Christiansen 46-25 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,015,385 7/ 1952 France.

F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 4617; 246 

